Door stops, in one form or another, have been around since the invention of various means to bias hinged doors towards a closed position. Most commercially available door stops involve some form of a permanently mounted leg or arm which can be pivoted or displaced so that it makes frictional contact with the ground, floor, or an entry way stoop. Examples are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,985,164, 2,217,996, and 3,831,989 which all show floor engaging elements which are permanently pivotally mounted to one side of a door. The problem with this type of door stop is that it is difficult to disconnect from one door and apply to another. In addition, according to some fire codes, permanent door stops are prohibited from being installed on a building exit door. This presents a particular problem for persons who make deliveries in commercial buildings where a door needs to be held in an open position until bulky objects such as furniture, appliances, or the like, pass through the door.
A number of proposals have been made in the art to provide removable door stops using the same principle of pivoted floor engaging members. Examples of this type of arrangement may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,709,615, 2,739,005 and 2,774,622. Aside from U.S. Pat. No. 2,774,622 the arrangements do not have an ability to accommodate doors of varying thickness. The design in U.S. Pat. No. 2,774,622 utilizes a clamping mechanism which is a difficult and cumbersome device to accommodate adjustable doors owing to the time it takes to thread the clamping mechanism in place.